The Rhino D830, the Linux edition
of the Dell Latitude D830, is a desktop replacement machine for those
who want a mid-sized presence (15.4" WUXGA display at 1920x1200) with
a blend of solid features and excellent performance at a decent price.
Weighing in at just more than seven pounds, the Rhino D830 may become annoyingly
heavy in transit. Nevertheless, the machine has a sturdy, sleek and
durable magnesium alloy frame, responsive keyboard and long-lasting
9-cell battery.

EmperorLinux Rhino D830

Our test Rhino D830 came with a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB
of RAM, 160GB hard drive (7,200rpm), DVD+/-RW drive (Blu-ray optional),
the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M1 video card with 256MB of video RAM and
accelerated OpenGL for workstation-level graphics applications, such as
video editing and 3-D modeling. You can order the Rhino D830 with up to 8GB
of RAM.

In our experience, EmperorLinux is hands-down the most fanatical vendor regarding
attention to detail and making sure every feature works well under
Linux.
EmperorLinux also provides the most complete documentation. The Rhino D830
we tested ran 64-bit Fedora 7 with EmperorLinux's own custom kernel,
as well as Windows XP Home. As expected, nearly everything worked
as promised, including the Fn keys and fingerprint scanner. Furthermore,
EmperorLinux has ensured that the optional Verizon EV-DO cellular data modem
works, although it must be activated one time under Windows. This is the
only laptop we tested with this functionality working. Finally,
EmperorLinux
says it is vigilantly improving the 802.11n Wi-Fi on this machine as it
begins to ship the IPW4965 wireless Ethernet cards and the state of the
driver improves.

It would be great if EmperorLinux could run the same promotional pricing as
Dell. Otherwise, prices are comparable.

Support/warranty:
one year of free, unlimited phone and e-mail support from EmperorLinux and
three
years of hardware warranty from Dell included.

Price as tested:
$2,250.

Lenovo IBM ThinkPad T61—Ergonomic Business Machine

Although you already can purchase the Lenovo IBM
ThinkPad T61 from EmperorLinux under its Toucan line, it's refreshing
to see Lenovo developing preloaded Linux laptops as well. For this article,
we were able to acquire a preview machine that should be available
to the general public before Christmas 2007. To its credit, Lenovo has
retained the original ThinkPad ergonomic quality in the T61. We liked
the intelligent keyboard layout, the keyboard response and the presence
of both a pointing stick and touchpad for navigating this machine.
Furthermore, although we don't much appreciate that the battery juts
out the back and that the casing is the same old plastic (and not a lighter
alloy), the classic ThinkPad aura is easy to like. At 5.2 pounds, this
machine would work for a road warrior seeking portable power.

We caught Lenovo in product-development mode
when reviewing the T61, which was evident in the hobbled state of its
Linux-based functionality. Therefore, it is unfair to complain about the
many things that aren't working just yet. My contact at Lenovo, despite
his Tony Snow-worthy evasions, has assured me that its engineers are
working quickly and furiously to provide full support for SUSE Linux
Enterprise Desktop. Some issues in development include full support
for the NVIDIA video card (for 3-D acceleration and Xgl/Compiz) and
power management (suspend to disk and suspend to RAM). The machine
we received had a fingerprint reader, which unfortunately will not be
present on the Linux-based production machine.

Politics aside for a moment, it was a smart choice aesthetically and
functionally for Lenovo to go with SLED. Not only is SLED an excellent,
well-planned distribution with an attractive menu system and the sexy
Xgl graphical environment, it offers useful applications, such as Novell
AppArmor. At the time of this writing, Lenovo was unsure whether it will offer
dual-boot or Linux-only machines.

Although we cannot yet fully judge whether Lenovo has scored a touchdown
with the ThinkPad T61, it is clear that the company is trying hard,
in cooperation with Novell/SUSE, to offer a top-quality Linux laptop
with a competitive (and functional) feature set. We encourage Lenovo
to continue its efforts over the long term and not just give Linux a
halfhearted try, only to prophesy Linux's lack of viability.

I really enjoyed reading this review. I have been dodging reviews left and right but yours is great. I'm looking to buy a notebook, I'm not yet decided but now I have some options. I really like the Lenovo products but they are too expensive.

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